Fonterra brings international dairy management expertise to Sri Lanka

Saturday, 16 March 2013 00:23 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka yesterday announced the appointment of Denise Burrell as Farm Extension Manager.

Burrell has over 20 years of experience in training dairy farmers in best practice in countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Australia, Indonesia and India.

Burrell will initially focus on ascertaining the needs of local dairy farming communities, and then use her experience and knowledge to work with dairy farmers to improve their on-farm management skills, productivity, milk quality and profitability.



Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka Managing Director Leon Clement said that Fonterra is committed to helping develop the local dairy industry. He added that Burrell’s appointment is one way the company is stepping up its investment in the local industry and support for local farmers.

“With Denise joining our team in Sri Lanka we are confident we can broaden our current farmer development programs, allowing us to further support the development of the local dairy industry and the government’s objective of increasing local dairy production.

“We began our farmer-development programme in 1997 and today we play an important role in helping farmers increase their skills in the areas of milk production, quality and sustainability. Adding Denise’s expertise to the team will allow us to build on this strong foundation,” said Clement.

Burrell added she is excited to be in Sri Lanka, working alongside the local dairy industry. “A key focus of my work offshore has been to encourage sustainable and profitable dairy production,” said Burrell.

“I have a firm belief that training and education empowers local communities and helps them to become more affluent – both economically as well as in terms of building capability. Therefore, the opportunity to work in Sri Lanka is certainly one I’m excited about,” she added.

Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka collects milk from a network of Sri Lankan dairy farmers for the manufacture of its Anchor Newdale product range.

This year the company increased its milk collection by almost 25% in comparison to the previous year.

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